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| Green, Allan C (1900). RESCUE [in front of a steamship]. http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/28653 |
This post forms part of a larger series devoted to the poetry of Zachariah Sutcliffe. Here a link to the Sutcliffe Index.
The Poem
The poem draws its inspiration from factual events and can be found as a stand-alone printing in the State Library of Victoria's archive of Sutcliffe's poetry [1].
The poem consists of seven quatrains, within an inconsistent and sometimes forced rhyming pattern.
The loose document has no printing date and I have not been able to find a copy of this poem in any newspaper - this would have provided an upper writing date. I assume it to be soon after the story broke in the newspapers.
Fatal Accident
On the Bay March 14th, 1878.
The night was dark, a drizzling rain
A boat seen go from the pier;
The Son with a parcel in his hand
To give it to his parents dear.
YUILLE and SEGGIE pulled the boat,
The latter for his hire,
The former with his parcel went
To please his own desire.
Each are pulling their very best,
To reach the ship WHAMPOA;
Joy filled their manful breasts
I know, I feel, I'm sure
SEGGIE'S hopes were honest ones,
YUILLE'S likewise were;
But little did they think of death,
Or its terrors were so near.
Yes, death was sitting on their backs,
Ready their lives to take,
And nought ne'er on this earth,
Can e'er this monster shake.
He came on a Steamer's float
And in a flash struck the boat,
Leaving Widows and Children all alone,
Until he comes to carry them home.
Oh death? thou comest in thine own way
Riding on foam, dipping in spray,
Tapping the heads of men in a boat
Nought left behind but bodies afloat.ZACHARIAH SUTCLIFFE.
The Story
The following paragraphs are the account from the Argus, Friday 15 March 1878, page 5. The Argus [2] names the boatman as Saggae, Sydney's Evening News of the same date [3] favours the spelling 'Teggie' and a later edition of the Argus [4] favours 'Seggie' which is the form used by Sutcliffe. 'Seggie' is the most common in numerous later reports.
There is irony in the fact that incident was the fault of the Steam-tug name the 'Rescue', and I have tried to capture that in the post title.
FATAL BOAT ACCIDENT.
A sad boat accident happened in Hobson's Bay last night, resulting in the death of two persons. It appears that the steamer Rescue was returning from Dromana with a con-tingent of the grocers' picnic party, and when near the Nelson buoy a crashing noise was heard, and it became known that one of the paddles had come into collision with some object. A passenger who was looking over the side at the time stated that he saw a dark object and the body of a man float post. The steamer was stopped and a search made. After tacking about, the dead body of a well known waterman named Robert Saggee was found entangled in a boat a sail. The face of the deceased was much bruised and dis figured, and it was supposed that he had been struck by the paddle of the steamer and killed instantaneously. It was evident that the steamer had come in collision with some boat, and it was feared that a number of other persons had perished. Some of the passengers on board the Rescue said they saw ladies in the water, but this was only imagination. It was subsequently ascertained, however, that Mr. Wm. Yuille, son of Mr. W. C. Yuille, commission agent, of Bourke street west, had been on the boat, and consequently that he must have been drowned. Inquiries made at a late hour elicited that Saggee and Mr Yuille, jun., left Sandridge pier in a rowing boat, at about 8 p.m., for the Whampoa, which was lying in the bay on the eve of departure for England. Mr Yuille, sen., and his wife were on board that vessel, and their son, who had seen them embark during the day, was now returning with a parcel for his mother. That there were no other persons in the boat is affirmed by two watermen named Monk and Tempest, who saw them leave the pier. Mr Yuille was assisting Saggee by pulling an oar, and both the occupants had thus their backs to the Rescue when the collision occurred. The steamer carried the usual lights, but the boat had none, and therefore could not havr been seen, as the night was very dark, and a thick rain was falling. The police boat was out search-ing for the body of Yuille until about mid-night, but was not successful, nor could any trace of the boat be found. Intelligence of the melancholy event soon reached the Whampoa, and on Mr. and Mrs. Yuille hear-ing of their bereavement they at once decided to abandon their intended voyage and re-turn to shore with their luggage. The body of Saggee was conveyed to the Sandridge morgue, where Mr. Candler will hold an inquest on the remains.
As far as I can tell the body was never recovered and given the lack of notices Yuille's funeral would have been a private ceremony.
References
[1] Sutcliffe, Z. (1859). Poems, 1859-1885 [manuscript]. State Library of Victoria Archive - RecordID 9916395893607636
[2] FATAL BOAT ACCIDENT. (1878, March 15). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 5. Retrieved December 9, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5925032
[3] Boat Accident in Hobson's Bay. (1878, March 15). Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931), p. 3. Retrieved November 29, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article107939518
[4] THE FATAL BOAT ACCIDENT. (1878, March 16). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 8. Retrieved December 9, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5925261
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